Unidentified Object That Buzzed Earth is Space Junk, Not Asteroid, NASA Says

A small object that zipped by Earth this month is most likely just a wayward piece of space junk left over from an interplanetary mission that launched in times past, NASA officials said Thursday.

The unidentified object, known only as 2010 KQ, flew past Earth on May 21 at a distance just beyond the orbit of the moon, which is about 238,900 miles (384,402 km) from our planet. It is now slowly moving away from Earth.

After a careful analysis of its trajectory through space, NASA scientists concluded that 2010 KQ is space junk from an upper-stage rocket that launched a spacecraft to another destination in our solar system. It is likely just a few meters in size, they found.
Like Earth, the object orbits the sun, scientists were able to calculate.
"The orbit of this object is very similar to that of the Earth, and one would not expect an object to remain in this type of orbit for very long," said Paul Chodas, a scientist at NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., in a statement.
Chodas did not speculate on exactly what mission the rocket remnant may be left over from.
Mystery object 2010 KQ
2010 KQ was discovered on May 16 by astronomer Richard Kowalski from an observatory in the mountains north of Tucson, Ariz., as he participated in the Catalina Sky Survey, a NASA-sponsored effort to monitor the cosmos. NASA tracked the object for five days until it made its closest approach.
Follow up observations by astronomer S. J. Bus at the Infrared Telescope Facility atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii took a look at the object's spectral characteristics, which did not match any known asteroid categories – hinting that it is of human manufacture.
The small size estimate for 2010 KQ is based on its relative dimness in observations. The object has an absolute magnitude (a measure of brightness) of 28.9. For comparison, a magnitude 1 object shines about 100 brighter than a magnitude 5 one.
And this is not the last Earth has seen of 2010 KQ. The rocket remnant will return in 2036, but poses little risk of hitting the Earth and no chance of surviving the fiery inferno of atmospheric entry, Chodas said.
"At present, there is a 6 percent probability that 2010 KQ will enter our atmosphere over a 30-year period starting in 2036," Chodas said. "More than likely, additional observations of the object will refine its orbit and impact possibilities. Even in the unlikely event that this object is headed for impact with Earth, whether it is an asteroid or rocket body, it is so small that it would disintegrate in the atmosphere and not cause harm on the ground."
2036: Year of space junk and asteroids

The year 2036 has special resonance among space rock watchers. That's the year that another object, the huge asteroid Apophis, is also expected to fly relatively close by Earth.
Apophis gained fame as a potentially dangerous asteroid because of early predictions that gave it a slight chance of hitting Earth. In reality, it will miss the Earth on April 13, 2036 by about 18,300 miles (29,450 km).

There is only a 1-in-250,000 chance of Apophis striking the Earth, odds that NASA considers to be low.

Like 2010 KQ, Apophis will also be back. It will make a second pass by Earth in 2068, with the risk of an Earth-endangering impact also set at a low 1-in-333,000 chance.
Chodas and other scientists with NASA's Near-Earth Object Program regularly keep vigilant watch on asteroids and space debris to determine the risk to our planet, as well as among the satellites and spacecraft in orbit today. They use a network of telescopes on the ground and in space to perform the survey.

NASA also works with the U.S. military's Space Surveillance Network to track potentially dangerous space debris flying in low-Earth orbit. So far, there are more than 19,000 pieces of space junk in Earth orbit today, a count which may not include interplanetary bits of junk like 2010 KQ that zip by every now and then.

Most Memorable Space Debris Moments
Gallery - Asteroids in Space
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Original Story: Unidentified Object That Buzzed Earth is Space Junk, Not Asteroid, NASA Says
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Source: Yahoo News

USAF vehicle breaks record for hypersonic flight

An experimental aircraft has set a record for hypersonic flight, flying more than 3 minutes at Mach 6 — six times the speed of sound.

The X-51A Waverider was released from a B-52 Stratofortress off the southern California coast Wednesday morning, the Air Force reported on its website. Its scramjet engine accelerated the vehicle to Mach 6, and it flew autonomously for 200 seconds before losing acceleration. At that point the test was terminated.
The Air Force said the previous record for a hypersonic scramjet burn was 12 seconds.
"We are ecstatic to have accomplished many of the X-51A test points during its first hypersonic mission," said Charlie Brink, an X-51A program manager with the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

"We equate this leap in engine technology as equivalent to the post-World War II jump from propeller-driven aircraft to jet engines," Brink said.

The Waverider was built for the Air Force by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and Boeing Co.
Joe Vogel, Boeing's director of hypersonics, said, "This is a new world record and sets the foundation for several hypersonic applications, including access to space, reconnaissance, strike, global reach and commercial transportation."
Four X-51A cruisers have been built for the Air Force, and the remaining three will be tested this fall.

"No test is perfect," Brink said, "and I'm sure we will find anomalies that we will need to address before the next flight."



Basic Yoga Postures and their Variations


Basic Yoga Postures and their Variations
1. THE COBRA Do this in easy stages. Lie down, face prone, legs tightly together and stretched back, forehead on the floor. Put your hands, palm down, just under your shoulders. Inhale and raise your head, pressing your neck back, now use your hands to push your trunk up until you are bending in a beautiful arc from your lower spine to the back of your neck. You need go no further than this. However, if you are supple enough, you can now straighten your arms completely, bend the legs at the knees and drop your head back to touch your feet. Even if your head goes nowhere near your feet, drop it back as far as possible and hold the posture with deep breathing. Come out of the posture very slowly, returning to the face prone posture. Relax with your head to one side. Repeat.
2. THE BOW This is also an extreme version of the simple bow. It is surprising how many children can do it immediately. Take it, once again, in easy stages. Lie face prone on your mat. If you are very slim have a nice thick, padded mat for this one. Inhale and bend your knees up. Stretch back with your arms and catch hold of your ankles, keeping fingers and thumbs all together on the outside. Inhale and at the same time raise your head and chest, pulling at your ankles and lifting knees and thighs off the floor. Breathe normally, trying to kick up your legs higher and lifting your head up. You are now bent like a bow, balancing the weight of your body on your abdomen. You can stop right here but if you can still stretch further, then slide your hands down your legs, lift them higher, keep the knees together and pull back as much as you can. Hold for a few normal deep breaths, then relax back to the face-prone position, head to one side.
3. THE SHOOTING BOW In Sanskrit this is known as Akarna Dhanurasana and one leg is drawn up like a shooting bow. Sit with both legs stretched out in front and back straight. Reach forward with both hands and clasp your feet, catching the right foot with the left hand and the left foot with the right hand. Inhale, bend the left knee and pull the foot across the body, close to your chest, pointing the elbow up and twisting the body slightly to the right. The left hand stays firm and tight, holding the right foot. Hold posture with normal breathing, release slowly, and relax. Repeat on other side. In the beginning it is enough to hold the bent left leg with the right hand. When this is easy, stretch down and hold the left foot with the right hand. Continue to pull on the left foot, lifting it higher on each exhalation.